Car Shock Absorbers Comments

I use to be a mechanic so I did the work myself. Took around 3 - 4 hours labor. Bought 4 struts on-line off of ebay vendor. Also bought new front strut mounts and bellows. Used spring compressors to transfer struts ... tool can be rented from OReilly's.

The both rear coil springs on my 2002 Ford Escort SE were broken. I ordered the Monroe Quick Struts from Amazon.Com for 106.00 each (No TAX & Free Shipping). The repair shop in Bridgeport, CT replaced it for 180.00 + tax & it took less then 2 hours for a One Man repair shop.The mileage on my 2002 Ford Escort SE was only 30K. I googled and found that it is cheaper to replace with Monroe quick struts instead of replacing the broken coil spring.Meineke Car Care Center initially told me 180.00 + $22.00 for tax and shop parts. Once they took the car in for replacement after signing for the repair cost, the manager came in and told me that it will cost additional 90.00 + tax as it will take 3 hours instead of 2 hours. Well, that is incompetance in my book. They should have checked the car first and then committed to the cost. Well, they lost a customer for life.

Was reminded when I took the truck (1994) in for an oil change that the original shocks were still installed. So I bought them at O'Reilly's. Good quality (I hope) Monroes, all four cost about $100. Installing the back pair was easy, the front not. Found a shop that wasn't busy and that charged me $50 to install the front pair. Saw him use an air wrench (which didn't work on one side) and an offset ratchet wrench, neither tool in my toolbox.Funny thing, the ride feels no different with the new shocks.

parts total about 550 labor about 200 its takes anywhere from 3-4 hours of you have the right tools (impact wrench air power tools) the hardest and most dangerous part of the install is probably removing and installing the springs. it takes about 15- 20 min to take the wheel off and remove the strut so about an 1 hour to remove all the struts from the car. another hour or so to remove and install spring on new struts and another hour to mount the struts and do a road test and all so depending on tools, having all the necessary parts on hand and having a good amount of experience i've seen mechanics do the job in under 3 hours but never more then 4 unless you have a lot of rust or a complicated suspension. so 200-250 in labor is more then fair. I would replace all the worn parts if im changing my struts such as strut bearing ( i would just buy a new mount) always new strut boots. possible sway bar linkage and bushing. I also like to replace worn bolts washers etc so I keep a few onhand

Installed Monroe shocks on front and Monroe Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting Shock Absorbers on rear. The front shocks were the best I could find from Monroe and they were $40. The rear Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting shocks are coil-over shocks and cost $90. I spent $20 for a set of long-handled wrenches because I needed a long handled 17mm to get to the top nuts of the rear shocks. I've been loading the trunk with heavy luggage a few times a year and the shocks hold the load very well.

Bought Monroe Quick-Struts and Sensa Trac rear shocks for 330.00. Meineke wanted 360.00 to do the front struts without bearing caps which were 80.00 extra if needed. Tires plus wanted 1000.00 to do both struts and shocks. I already put on the shocks but need to order the struts for 280.00. I paid Tires Plus for a 3 time alignment which they said they would honor if I did my own work.

Bought quick struts and shocks from Monroe.Tires Plus wanted 1000.00 to replace front struts and rear shocks. Bought parts for 300.00.Replaced rear shocks but have not done the struts as of yet. I Paid for 3 years of free alignments and they said they would honor it if I replaced the struts myself.

I had all 4 shocks on my '93 Jeep GC replaced with top quality for $250 in an hour. No alignment was then needed. (I could have done it myself.) Struts all around average $1000 for multi-link cars and half a day.

What would be appreciated would be help; links or lists, to find specific vehicles with wishbone / shock absorber suspensions vs, the multi=link / strut suspensions.

This kind of information is hard to find in the car reports, descriptions ans specs posted on the web.

Kia Sedona 2002 - needed strut change badly. My shop lets me buy the parts myself and puts them in. Kia Sedona struts are only available from Kia :-( They cost almost $400 for the two front struts, add $100 for the rear - Monroes, and $500 labor. BUT, the van now rides nicely and feels much safer. Safety has its cost...

I was quoted $700 to $1300 for replacing all four struts. I was also told that I needed four stabilizer bars as well. I went online to Racepages.com and bought the parts for cheaper and then had my mechanic install them. Parts came to $553 and labor was $250. Monroe was running a rebate on the struts, so I will get $60 back. Although I paid nearly the amount that I was quoted at one of the shops, at least I knew what brand of struts I was getting (Monroe Sensa-trac), and not some generic off-brand.